Kabul: High-ranking officials from the Afghan Taliban confirmed on Thursday the death of their leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, and said the group's top council has elected his successor, a senior figure who served as the reclusive mullah's deputy for the past three years.
The Taliban Shura, or Supreme Council, chose Mullah Akhtar Mansoor as the new leader, two Taliban figures told news agency AP. The two, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized by the council to talk to the media, said the seven-member Shura had met in the Pakistani city of Quetta.
Mansoor is considered close to the Pakistani authorities and his election could further divide an already-fractured Taliban as he is believed to have links to opposing councils within the movement. The Taliban are believed to have splintered under pressure to enter into peace talks with the Afghan government after almost 14 years of war.
The peace process suffered a blow earlier Thursday, first when the Afghan Taliban indicated they were pulling out of the negotiations with the Kabul government, and later, when the Pakistan foreign ministry confirmed the talks hosted by Islamabad were postponed.
Following Mansoor's election, the Taliban also chose Sirajuddin Haqqani as its new deputy leader, the two Taliban figures said.
Haqqani has a US government bounty of $10 million on his head as a leader of the extremist Haqqani network, which is allied with al-Qaeda.
